Interprovincial Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 808, 28 July 1870, Page 2

Interprovincial Items.

Wo learn from aDunedin contemporary that another of the Maori prisoners, Horopapera Hopu, under sentence of three years' penal servitude, died in the hospital on the 10th instant, from chronic asthma, for which he had been under treatment in the hospital for two months. He was 25 years old, a Wesleyan, and during the week previous to his death was, visited by his nearest relatives, who are confined in the goal, as well as by the Wesleyan catechist, who read prayers to him. This is the eighth Maori prisoner who has succumbed to asthma.

The Taranuki Herald understands that recently a party of Hauhaus from Tito* kowaru's tribe, all well armed, paid a visit to the Opunake flax works, at Te Namn, on their way from. Pariaka. They looked over the works without speaking a word, and, then passed, on* \

A second rope-walk is" about to be established near Qamaru. , j

Walter Tricker's friends will be glad to read tbe following extract from a letter to Mr Stock frjjm ; 'Mr Lyon, of Eangitikei:— "Mr K. Hammond speaks in very high terms of bim ; in fact, says he is the best man he ever bad. Tricker is engaged cutting wood, driving bullocks, and the usual work about a large farm." We (Wanganui Chronicle) regret to learn that an accident befel Mrs 'Dhomas Handley on Sunday forenoon. While in the yard of her -house, picking up some wood'chips, she accidentally stepped on the decayed wooden'' cover of the well, which gave way, and she was at once precipitated to the bottom, a fall of thirty feetr Fortunately, several portions of the wood fell with her, and with these means she was saved from drowning, till Mr Lester ceme to her assistance. A rope was then lowered' down, and, with considerable difficulty and no little risk, she was pulled up. We are glad to hear that though considerably bruised, Mrs Handley has not sustained any dangerous injuries. The Evening Post, July 19, says:—One of the Ngatiporous who arrived from Waihi the other day, named Penemine Huihui, who had been long ailing, died suddenly to-day, in a cab, on his way to the wharf, to go on board the Luna. An inquest was held this afternoon, at the Crown and Anchor Hotel, when a verdict of death from natural causes was returned*

The Evening Post, July 20, says :—Mr Justice Ward sailed ibr Hokitika last evening, in the Claud Hamilton, to assume his functions as District Judge. Why the Government should have taken such care to contradict the report of this appoint* ment when it was first spread is rather hard to say.

The Lyttelton Times, July 18, says : On Saturday two stacks of grain belonging to a farmer named Kelly, residing about two miles beyond the Selwjn Railway Station, were burned down, and two more were in great danger as our informant passed. It appears that Kelly Btarted early on Saturday morning for Christchurch, with the object of selling his grain, and it is believed the stacks were set on fire by some children.

i We learn from a Canterbury paper that Mr T. W. Newnham, Mayor of Kaiapoi, died at his residence on the 16th July of heart disease. As Mayor, he was always most energetic in looking after the interests of the Borough. His premature death will be regretted by a large circle of friends, and by the inhabitants of Kaiapoi generally.

The following telegram from Hokitika, dated 17th July, appears in the Lyttelton Times: —" The Elizabeth Curie, from Kaiapoi, was being towed in ou Saturday evening, when she struck on a bank in the river; this morning's tide she came off; at 11 a.m. she sank alongside the wharf. It is supposed she sprang a leak while aground. The cargo, which is all damaged, was discharged to-day. A boat, manned by five men, from Okarita, in crossing ihe bar to-day, was upset. Two of the men were drowned —John Brown and Henry Miller. Miller's body has since been picked up." We (Otogo Daily Times) regret to learn that the rumor from our luvercargill correspondent of the drowning of Captain JReid, of the. Brothers, has proved too true. A telegram from one of the men belonging to the vessel was received at Port Chalmers yesterday, to the effect that the Brothers was lying wind bound off Mokomoko ; that the captain went out in a boat, a squall struck her, and she was capsized, the captain being drowned. He was quite a young man, and his loss is deeply regretted by a large circle of the seafaring community. He leaves a wife and child to mourn hia loss.

A short time ago we mentioned that Mr Selfe, engineer of the Storm Bird, jumped off the wharf and rescued a boy who was in danger of drowning. Several parties who witnessed the occurrence considered that Mr Selfe's gallantry deserved some acknowledgement, and accordingly opened a subscription, limited to half-a-crown, for the purpose of purchasing some fitting testimonial to be presented to him as a mark of their approbation. The halfcrowns have come in pretty rapidly, and the gentlemen who took the initiative in the matter have called a meeting of the subscribers, at the Empire Hotel, this, evening, to consider what shape the testis mpjial is to take.—Evening Post, 1&

The Wanganui Chronicle gays: —The natives report a strange animal as having been recently seen in the Mangawhero; they suppose it to be an immense taniwha, and are aboutf organizing a party to capture it-

An address from Mr Travers to his constituents in Christchurch, announcing that on the Ist August he will place the resig nation of his seat in the hands of the Speaker, appears in the Christchurch papers. x •

A Debating Society has been formed in Wellington j 100 members are said to have joined it.

We take the following from the Cororoandel Argus, July 16:—On Saturday morning, Mr M'Tavish, the gold buyer at the beach, purchased 250 z of fine shotty alluvial gold, for which he paid the high price of £3 17s 6d per oz. The party from whom he purchased it stated that he had taken it from a creek in the Coromandel district, and that there was more where that came from. He refused to give any further particulars, and a great amount of curio-ity has been ai'oused as to where this line parcel of gold came from. Nearly all the flax mills in Canterbury are reported to have stopped operations, in consequence of the unfavorable news received from England during the last few months.

According to the Oamaru Herald, it is contemplated to form a Farmers' Society at Oamaru, for the purpose of securing united action throughout the district in the regulation of wages and other matters in which the agriculturists are, as a class, interested.

The annual meeting of the share-holders of the Canterbury Meat Export Company was held at Christchurch a few days ago. The report stated that 16,000 sheep had passed through the Company's hands during the year, 6,000 having been boiled down, and 10,000 preserved. The affairs of the Company were on the whole in a sasisfactory condition, but more capital was required. They were also about to apply for thn bonus of £I,OOO offered by the Provincial Government for the first 100 tons of preserved meat shipped from the Province.

The following telegram from Blenheim, dated 20th July, appears in the Evening post:— The "Wairau finds are increasing: two nuggets weighing 7oz and 6oz are just in. The gold is mostly large.

We fiad the subjoined paragraph in the New Zealand Herald, July 23 :—lt appears from the following report which has been forwarded to us, that the barque Cantero, which left Auckland a few days since, to load timber at Hokianga, for Melbourne, has had a narrow escape of being lost. The barque, having taken in her cargo, left Hokianga on Monday last, in charge of the pilot, Captain Beveridge, crossing the harbor with a light westerly breeze. Shortly after the pilot left her the wind died away, and the barque drifted down to about three miles to the north of Hokianga. The master of the Cantero then let go his anchor and hoisted a flag half mast. The ketch Mary Ann, Captain Stewart, which was lying outside the bar, then ran down to render assistance, and went as near as was prudent to the disabled vessel. The boats belonging to the barque then put off, nnd instead of pulling towards the ketch, rowed over the bar, and succeeded in reaching Hokianga in safety. The night was very dirty, with thick rain, aDd Captain Stewart kept well off the land till the following morning. At daybreak there was a light breeze off the land, and the barque was seen about seven miles off land, having parted from her anchor during the night. The Mary Ann then ran down to her, and found her abandoned. Captain Stewart p'aced two of his men on board, who worked her up towards Hokianga. Whan within two miles of the bar, Captain Beveridge and the crew of the pilot-boat, came on board, and by request of Captain Stewart, undertook to work the barque to this port, one of Captain Stewart's hands remaining on board in possession of the vessel, in order to make good claim for salvage. Captain Beveridge having been supplied with some charts and other necessaries, proceeded to Auckland, and may be expected to arrive in harbor hourly. The Mary Ann crossed the bar the same day, and, shortly after landing, Capt. Stewart proceeded overland to the Bay of Islands, arriving there on Thursday. He came on to Auckland by the s.s. Tauranga, in order to represent the matter before the Collector of Customs. The captain and crew of the Cantero may be expected by the Samson to-day,

We learn from the Thames Advertiser that a painful mine accident occurred on the night of the 19th July, on the ground of the Comet No. 1 claim. It appears that two of the men, named Williams and Brownlee, were working at a blast going into the Earl of Ulster ground and in the act of tamping the blast, when the powder exploded in the face of the two men in question, who were blown some considerable distance, and when discovered by their mates shortly afterwards, were found to be very seriously injured, and one of them unable to speak. The injurj to the faces and hands of the men were such as to render their immediate removal to the hospital necessary, where one of the sufferers still remains in an unconscious condition. Both men are expected to lose their eyesight.

Speaking of the Ngatiporous, the Wanganui Herald says .• —Although this body of natives have latterly done good service in the Patea district, they have never worked in a very friendly spirit mixed up with the Europeans. The first evening they arrived in Patea en route for this towu, they all got intoxicated, the consequences of which was that a fracas took place between natives and Europeans. Knives were drawn and bludgeons used, but fortunately no one was dangerously injured. Major Noake and some of the officers ran down and with some trouble separated the combatants. The natives were the next day ordered to move to the opposite side of the river in order to prevent any further disturbance. Tuesday witnessed a similar scene in Wanganui between the Ngatiporous and Wanganui natives, who were all in a state of intoxication the whole day. Wirihana was knocked down, his whip taken away, and then jumped upon, and it was with some difficulty that he was rescued by some Wanganui natives' and Europeans. Under the heading of "Topia as a sportsman," the Wanganui Herald, July 16, savs : —At the Pigeon shooting at Aramaho on Saturday last, Major Topia put in an appearance and fired among others. j He hit one of his birds which fell among scrnb. Topia ran forward to catch his bird in the same manner as he often at* tempted to catch Te Kooti; bat strange to relate, when close on to his prey, as he often has been on to Te Kooti, the bird rose up and flew away.

The Wanganui Herald, of the 16th July, records the following : Some little commotion was caused opposite the Phoenix Hotel this week, by the overturning of Wirihana'a trap. He was proceeding clown Campbell Place at racing speed, and on turning the corner into Wicksteed Place, the trap upset, pitching the occupants all in a heap. Wirihana, although much bruised, exerted himself in taking the injured ladies into M'Grregor's Hotel, and solacing them with what they had already had quite enough. Beyond a few bruises and the fright, nothing serious occurred.